Career Development Guidance
BIFM has worked with FM World to create a range of career development information for BIFM members.
Practical information on job seeking, CVs and interviews, together with tools and advice for everyday tasks you will face will help you keep your FM career on track:
What is FM?
This provides you with a quick synopsis of what FM is and what careers and qualifications are available within FM.
Compiling your CV
You have seconds to persuade a potential employer to interview you, and your stand-out CV may be the only way to catch their eye. So what should it contain?
Your covering letter
Time invested in CV writing is never wasted but that commitment could come to nothing if you dont get the covering letter right - they come as a pair
Application forms
Youve got your CV just as you want it but the job requires you to fill out an application form. By hand. Its time to dust off your pen and remember the eight golden rules
Succeeding at interview
Many plum jobs are taken by those with killer interview skills. Meanwhile others are not sitting interviews regularly are out of practice, and it certainly shows
Hit the ground running
Your stand-out CV and excellent interview skills created a good impression and landed you the job. Now in post, you must live up to expectations and make the role a success
Choosing an employer
Whether you are starting out in the world of work or mid-career, you need to be aware of what it is you must have from a job and what organisation can best deliver it to you
Resigning your post
A calm and sensible exit from a job is vital in the close-knit community of FM. So be sure to furnish yourself with the knowledge of how to make a dignified departure
Managing demanding clients
Understanding needs and remembering to communicate means that there need not be too much time wasted when a demanding client is testing your capabilities
Performance management
Performance management has many benefits but some still see the process as time-consuming, exasperating, paper intensive and a little too fluffy around the edges
Quality management
Regardless of the profession you are in, without order there is chaos and as a result productivity is affected and inefficiencies are rife. Avoid all of that, embrace quality
Delegation
Management is about getting things done through others. Delegation is an essential skill that a manager needs to learn and make us of. But many donÕt do it, or do it badly
Appraisals
Evaluating individual performance is a necessary task for managers but many dislike conducting appraisals. And staff can often view the exercise as demotivating
Office Politics
All organisations, being made up of people, are political institutions. And all leaders have to deal with the resultant politics - its just that some are better at it than others
Effective supervision
Effective supervision skills can sometimes feel alien for those new to management, but mastering them is essential if you are to become a manager rather than a doer
Motivate your staff
Facilities management is a service-based industry where people are all important. In order to keep our customers satisfied we need to motivate our own teams
Interim management
Times are changing and interim managers are being seen as more than just the crisis averting stop gap. In fact, it’s a role that’s a role that’s shaping up as a career option in its own right.
Communication Skills
Communication is the most important and most powerful of all management skills, That is doubly true for FMs who need to be expert listeners, speakers and writers
Diversity management
There is growing support for the notion that when it comes to assembling your team the broader the mix the greater the chance of innovation and satisfaction
Personal effectiveness
The remit of the job steadily grows broader - so how can a facilities manager shoulder all of these responsibilities, get everything done, and still find time to live a little?
Developing coaching skills
The role of the facilities manager is now even more challenging. And coaching is a key way of growing your team so that together you can achieve results
Dressing for work
Making a good impression is important, so its time to take a closer look at what you are wearing and to think about the message you send out through your choice of outfit
Recruiting the right person
It only takes a second to offer employment, but regret can last for months - improve your chances of making the right decision to land the perfect new recruit
Staff engagement
Engaged employees are more productive, more profitable and more customer focused, so how good are we at ensuring the workers genuinely feel appreciated?
